I recently bought myself to an iPhone -if you know me at all, you'd know that I'm a pretty frugal person, so this was truly a treat to myself!  My point here on my photography blog?  Don't discount a tool as simple as a camera phone!   I've been playing with mine, and getting some really fun, cool and surprising results!  There are plenty of photography related apps to help you make your simple photos better, hipper & way more fun!  So get playing!  

My first ever camera! My Mom recently gave this to me; it's now appropriately displayed on the fireplace in office.

Good ol' Fisher Price toys -they last forever.It's funny though, no matter what I point it at, it still only takes pictures from a trip to the zoo in 1973. I don't even remember the sea lions, but I bet they were great. Oh well, I was only 2 at that time.
Of course, my name is on my camera -Mark had one just like it and you wouldn't want them to get mixed up.

If you visit Montreal, you'll miss a lot if you forget to look up.
Even if it's raining.

Or if it's *just* apartments.

You'll miss the most interesting things -even if you're not quite sure what you're looking at.

Have you ever taken a vacation alone?  I for one never thought I'd have the opportunity, but at my husband's urging I finally did it.  He & my son were going to spend a week at the family cottage, so he suggested I take a little trip on my own to stave off the inevitable boredom I would experience in their absence -not that I wouldn't find something here or there around the house to do... I took it as a challenge and booked a very reasonable, last minute air & hotel package deal to Montreal, a city I've always wanted to visit. 

I have to say, it was indeed a pleasure and a luxury to visit this beautiful city and it's abundance of culture on my own!  I spent as much time as I wanted strolling the different quarters, art galleries, shops and museums.  I took pictures when I wanted, of what I wanted, or left the camera in the hotel room.   I walked 5 or 6 hours every day; the Metro became my new best friend.  I'm confident I saw more, did more, and spoke with more locals than I ever would have, even with the best travelling companion imaginable.

Enjoy my photos, I certainly enjoyed taking them -not my usual genre, but a wonderful change of pace, and challenge.  More to come!

Took me a while to figure out there was a nest hiding in amongst my grapevines, but once I did, look what I found!  Baby robins! Just a couple of days old here I think.  I shot these precariously from a ladder, but really wish I had a taller ladder to really get in there.

The nest becoming very crowded -you can't tell, but the dominant baby is sitting on his two siblings. Day 8.

First robin to leave the nest! About 10 days old -can you believe it??

There's Momma Robin up on top of the fence post watching over the first baby to leave the nest. He's down on the grass in the bottom left.

These two were very relieved when big bro left, now they have some room to stretch their wings.

Empty nest. By day 12, all the babies are gone. So sad, we really enjoyed watching them grow. I still see them around & even spotted one visiting the nest the other day.

Fries under the Bridge -get it?  Fries shot under the Bluewater Bridge??  If you're from Sarnia, or anywhere around there, you will know exactly what I mean.  There is nothing -and I mean nothing, like the local fresh cut fries, liberally sprayed (yes, sprayed -it's a Sarnia thing) with vinegar, a generous sprinkle of salt, and gobs of ketchup to fill in the holes.  Yummm!
I recently took my son for his first visit to my hometown of Sarnia, aptly named "Bluewater Land" because of it's amazingly clear azure blue water of the St. Clair river.  We drove around to my favourite places and I showed him the houses I grew up in, and the schools I used to attend.  I also had to prove just how far of a walk to & from school I had -yes, uphill both ways in the dead of winter.  ; )

We spent a lovely afternoon at Canatara Beach Park, it's still pretty cold, but we had a good swim anyways. 

There are always a great variety of interesting rocks and shells to sift through.  This, I could spend hours doing. 

I couldn't wait to take Gav to the Animal Farm; I have many memories of feeding the animals, & being chased by geese.  It did not disappoint, except that we're not allowed to feed the animals any longer.  We spent a good amount of time listening to and laughing at the sound of the goats bleating to one another.  They were certainly vocal that night!

A lot has changed in Sarnia since I lived there; most for the good -the waterfronts and parks are amazingly well kept.  I can't get over the big box developments in the north end, but I guess that's the fate of most towns & cities nowadays.  The downtown, and waterfronts still retain their charm however.  Looking forward to the next visit --next time I get to have a Puffio from Ciccios!

Hope all my fellow Barrie residents were able to get out and enjoy the day; we had a great evening at the downtown festivities & Promenade Days.  Gavin thoroughly enjoyed the rides and games, and the rain actually held out until 8:30.  It was a little soggy for us to stay for the fireworks, but we made our own fun with sparklers at home!  Lucky us too, that we were able to view not only the main Kempenfelt Bay firework show from our bedroom windows, but also the many neighbourhood displays as well!

Above -a very cool light up sword purchased at the waterfront -made a very cool shot!

I just can't wait to get out there & start my veggie garden!  Alas, as I've learned these past two years, it's really not prudent to begin planting anything here until after the May 24 weekend.  So, I must be patient & do what I can inside for now, which consists of starting as many seedlings inside as I can.  I purchased this handy, dandy seedling tray in February and just planted it a week & a half ago with the help of Gavin of course.  I'm pleased & surprised with the moisture retention of the little soil pucks -haven't had to re-water once. 

I'm thrilled to see sprouts popping up from almost every seed that we planted.  Most especially, the sunflowers below.  Last year, I tried planting sunflowers outside with no luck at all.  I have 5 out of 6 popping up so far!  They'll look so cheerful along the back fence!

One shot of my two new kitties together -settling in very nicely and taking over the house, just as cats are supposed to do.  How regal do they look on my red couch?

There were bunnies galore at City Hall & the Barrie Farmers Market today - real bunnies to pet, painted up bunnies, and even a visit from the real Easter Bunny! 

Tummies were full of pancakes and chocolate eggs, and we even had a horse drawn wagon ride -all for free!    

My Little Bunny at home in full bunny regalia.

I've been out with my camera a couple of times since the beginning of March, trying to find and capture the first signs of "real" Spring.  Other than a few uninteresting remains of dirty snow banks and some way too hardy weeds growing, well, like weeds- nothing.  Finally yesterday, it all came at once:  saw my first robin, my first crocus bloomed, and yes, believe it or not, the ice cream truck came by our courtyard!  

I'll let the pics speak for themselves. We enjoyed 4 days in lovely Cancun, thanks to my husband's employer for reaching his sales goals last year.  Ahhh, that water!

As a proud Mom, I can't *not* post about my son's most recent TV commercial.  It was filmed in December, and we've all been waiting patiently to see it on air -sometimes, commercials that are filmed are never aired, which is a shame.  This one's for Mott's Fruitsations; you'll all recognize the familiar jingle when you hear it.  He doesn't have any lines in this one, but we were all pleased and proud at what a great job he did during the filming.  Go Gavin go!

It's Sunday afternoon, nothing planned; 2 adults wanting some R&R, one six year old bounding restlessly about the house. What do you do?  Challenge him to make the longest Play Doh snake possible, of course. 

Two playsets and about 45 minutes of quiet concentration later, he presents his 10 foot masterpiece.  One additional bonus was that it took him almost as long to clean everything back up!

What's the scariest thing about these images?  Not the ghosts, as you may have suspected; instead, it's the fact they were taken on October 22nd.  Snow in October.  Nice.